


Called In

by zeri



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 05:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2535263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeri/pseuds/zeri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was therefore a tremendous surprise when, as Ariadne constructed a model skyscraper and Eames worked on a sketch of his newest character forgery, Arthur's phone suddenly pealed out in Lily Allen's cheerful voice, "Fuck you! Fuck you very, very mu~uch!"</p>
<p>Eames' hand stilled in the middle of a line and he looked over at Arthur in mild shock. Ariadne was, sadly, less able to contain her reaction and knocked over the top of her skyscraper. "Shit," she yelped just as Arthur muttered feelingly, "Fuck," and strode over to his desk for the phone.</p>
<p>(Unlikely to be continued.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Called In

The ringtones on Arthur's phone varied but were so unobtrusive that most people would never notice. The buzzing was low and quiet, easily ignored, and hummed in slightly different patterns depending on who was calling. Dream thieves were an observant lot - or they were if they stayed any good at their job - and so Ariadne knew that the buzzing spelled out the caller's name in morse code, although the names themselves were always in code. Eames had actually picked up on a few of the identities - by calling Arthur while they were in the same room a few times, he knew that his own name on Arthur's phone was 'Abagnale,' and after one afternoon at work when Dom called Arthur constantly about Phillipa's flu, he knew that Dom's codename was 'Cole Sear.' 

It was therefore a tremendous surprise when, as Ariadne constructed a model skyscraper and Eames worked on a sketch of his newest character forgery, Arthur's phone suddenly pealed out in Lily Allen's cheerful voice, " _Fuck you! Fuck you very, very mu~uch!_ "

Eames' hand stilled in the middle of a line and he looked over at Arthur in mild shock. Ariadne was, sadly, less able to contain her reaction and knocked over the top of her skyscraper. "Shit," she yelped just as Arthur muttered feelingly, "Fuck," and strode over to his desk for the phone.

" _'Cause we hate what you do,_ " Lily Allen continued, " _and we hate your whole crew, so-_ "

Arthur answered the phone, ending the ringtone in mid-lyric. "You'd better be dying. For real, this time."

Both of his co-workers leaned closer to listen, but the volume on the phone was too low for them to even catch a snatch of what the person on the other line was saying. Arthur frowned and bent over his desk, giving the others in the room a view of his ass in perfectly tailored trousers. Ariadne gave a little sigh and began trying to fix her model, while Eames seemed perfectly content to continue watching Arthur. 

"No," Arthur said, "not until... a month from now at the earliest. How many people are we talking about? ...Whoever I get will want a significant pay increase for the extension beyond a regular job timescale. No. No. Because I don't like you."

Arthur continued bickering with the person on the other line, which Ariadne thought was sort of adorable. He was rarely anything less than professional, which made his little bits of normalcy - kissing her on the Fischer job, counseling Dom through Phillipa's illness, debating with Eames for ten minutes whether cookies were actually 'biscuits' or not - incredibly endearing. She listened to Arthur's tone of voice more than what he was actually saying until he snapped, "Fine, hold on," and returned to a normal tone to ask Eames and Ariadne, "Do either of you have anything lined up for a while after this? I've got a militarization offer for four subjects."

"Are you offering this up to Davis too?" Eames asked warily. Davis was their extractor for the current job, who spent his time chatting women up in pubs rather than staying with the rest of the team and making sure everything was perfect. Ariadne had learned that, sadly, Dom had actually been the best extractor in the business even with his crazy dead wife in his head. No one she'd met in the two years since had come close to measuring up. After job offers from several others and working with three other point men, Ariadne had given up and told Arthur that she was his if he needed her, but she was staying out of the dreamshare business otherwise. Arthur had tried to hire forgers other than Eames, but in the end, Eames was the best at what he did too. 

Ariadne was coming to the realization that the team she'd worked with on her first job was probably the best team she'd ever work with. It was incredibly annoying, considering Dom had dropped out.

"I think the three of us can handle it," Arthur said with a distasteful tilt to his lips. His expression cleared as he told Ariadne, "Militarization doesn't usually require an architect, but the experience will be good for you and I can get him to pay through the nose."

"I'm in," Ariadne said simply. It sounded interesting and she never did anything without Arthur there anyway. The money would be nice, but on her current budget, the Fischer job money alone would hold her until her mid-forties. After a few more jobs, she could finish extending her budget to her one hundredth year, accounting for inflation, and start slowly raising the money she allowed herself to spend every month.

"I could never willingly tear myself from your side, darling," Eames told Arthur as Ariadne juggled sums in her head. 

"Perfect. Ariadne, wait to adjust your budgeting until I have actual numbers for you."

"Tsk. Spoilsport."

Holding the phone up to his ear again, "Me and two others. Right, sounds good." Arthur paused to listen and sighed, but there was a fond smile on his face as he said, "You are, you creep. I'll call later for details." He hung up.

"Who's the job for?" Eames asked as he finally went back to his amazing-as-always sketch. Ariadne, who could draw the world's most perfectly impossible bridge but whose human figures looked like space aliens, was deeply jealous. 

"Government branch. I won't say more until this job's over, but don't leave the country when the team breaks."

"Just what I need, more rain," Ariadne grumbled, her steady hands gluing back a support piece.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be an Inception/Torchwood crossover, in which Jack Harkness is Arthur's father and hires him to militarize the Torchwood team. Considering how long ago I wrote this bit, though, it's unlikely that I'll continue it.


End file.
